It is common practice for the mounting shafts of the main cylinder of a carding machine to be carried in pillow block bearings on the arch of the card. When removing the main cylinder from the card, it is necessary to first disassemble the flats and then disassemble the pillow block bearings. Such a practice is time consuming because the card settings are lost and it is necessary that the bearing itself be removed. A variation of this practice is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,597,801 wherein the bearing is provided with pivoted means for insuring axial alignment of the bearing on the cylinder shaft. Pedestal supports for bearing blocks carrying a card cylinder are illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 2,665,954.
The removal of the inner race of a rolling bearing assembly such as ball or roller bearings has always presented a problem in that external pulling means which engage the outer race of the bearing, are normally employed. The force necessary to overcome the attachment of the inner race to the shaft often results in spalding of the ball or roller bearings themselves or other injury to the assembly. One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a means for removing bearing assemblies from a shaft without the necessity of exerting a pulling force against the outer race of the bearing. In the case of a bearing for the cylinder shaft of a carding machine, it is especially desirable that the bearing be removable without disengaging or removing the cylinder from its position within the card frame members.
Stationary card flats of the type illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,604,062 and 3,604,475 are rigidly secured to the arch of the card and settings are made utilizing various shimming type arrangements. The difficulty here is that the settings are generally lost when for any reason the stationary flats are removed and the rigid mounting resists the passage of foreign objects between the clothing of the cylinder and the clothing of the flats thus causing damage to either or both sets of card clothing.
Accordingly, it is an important object of this invention to provide a secure mounting for fixing the cylinder shafts of a carding machine with respect to the frame so that in the event of failure of the bearing, the cylinder will remain firmly secured in its place between the card frame members. By providing a secure mounting increase in cylinder speed is safely made possible.
Another important object of the invention is to provide a mounting for a card cylinder utilizing a shroud assembly which permits removal of the cylinder and flat assemblies at the same time as a unit without disturbing the settings thereof.
Another important object of the invention is to provide a means for removing bearings from a shaft in such a manner that the removing force may be exerted upon the inner race of the bearing, minimizing any tendency to spalding of the balls or other damage to the assembly.
Still another important object of the invention is to provide a shroud arrangement for use with the main cylinder of a card which provides a mounting for securement of stationary flats in any of the customary positions and which permits the positioning of flats, plates or other members entirely about the cylinder in such a way that the flats may be resiliently and yieldably carried with means for positively securing any desired settings.
Since the cylinder shafts are always surrounded by the ledge supported shroud the enormous forces generated by the massive cylinder or other carding rollers may be safely contained at high speeds.